Eat My Shatkins

Bichette on the Red Sox or Yankees is disgusting. Don't do it dude.

Yeah it's definitely the least likely option.

I'm also interested to see what they do with Bowden Francis. Kind of feels like the best option would be to put him back as a reliever again and see if he can stick in that role. Or maybe he just sucks. That 2-3 month stretch in 2024 was tantalizing though.

It'll be interesting to see how his spring goes. He ever pitched a single inning in the AFL. I was looking forward to seeing how he did there. Hopefully he is healthy and ends up taking a bullpen spot as a flame throwing reliever. He was 93-96mph as a starter. Possible he could be 98mph+ as a reliever in short bursts.

At what point do the Jays have to make a decision on Bastardo? Since he's a rule 5 pick he has to be on the 26 man roster, but when is the deadline line for that? End of spring training?

That was my original thought as well, then I went a saw how many starters they have down there already.

Smart move then to free up a 2nd spot on the 40 man. Hopefully they have a couple of signings coming soon then.

18-20 potential starting pitchers at AAA and AA combined is a normal full roster? I don't recall ever seeing the Jays with that many before.

This honestly has to be plan D or E if the Jays strike out on several other options first.

Man this org has a lot of starting pitching at every level. 7 in MLB counting Lauer not counting Bloss who's injured 8 in AAA not counting guys like Amalfi, Wallace and Harrison who do start at times plus now maybe Yariel too 7 in AA

Maybe they're going to try stretching Yariel out as a starter again in AAA.

If they're willing and able to get both Bo and Tucker my ideal line up would be: C Kirk 1B Vlad 2B Bo 3B Clement SS Giminez LF Tucker CF Varsho RF Barger DH Springer Taters would get reps in LF and DH Clement would be all over the infield, 3B, 2B, 1B and SS Barger would get some 3B Speaking of 1B, jays don't really have anyone with experience at 1B. So unless they bring in someone else it's probably Clement who will spell Vladdy out once in a while? I wonder Tony Taters can take some reps there too?

Whatever the case, it sure looks as though the Jays are willing to go all in for 2026, one year in the highest luxury tax bracket and then reset again in 2027 when Gausman, Bieber, Springer, Varsho, Straw, Yimi can come off the books. If they can dump a portion of the Berrios contract the payroll for 2027 will come down around $100 million. And it's not like the team would be gutted for 2027 either. They'd still have some core pieces to build around and waves of talent coming up from the minors.

I think the Jays plan right now is to land Tucker, if they can do that I still think they might match whatever offer Bo gets up to a certain point and then run a high payroll for one season. I really doubt they are going to start trading guys like Varsho or Barger. Probably want to run it back but with reinforcements, not start cutting into the nucleus of the team. Guys like Berrios, Santander and Rodriguez is where they can cut some salary if they land all the big fishes they want to land. Almost $40 million against the luxury tax for those three, but they'd have to eat some of that money and attach some prospects to do it probably. Also, I only keep bringing up Sherzer and Bassitt because they've both made a f*** or money in their careers and both seem to want to come back badly enough that I could see them taking 1 year deals for cheap just to take another run at the world series and add to the pitching depth of this team. Bassitt has like $80 million career earnings and Scherzer well over $300 million. Both have publicly stated they want to come back, and Scherzer is running around doing interviews like hes still a Jay lol. Plus if they trade Berrios they can certainly use the depth. Remember, the Dodgers just won the world series in a year where they only got 197 regular season innings from Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani and then had them all ramped up and fresh for the playoffs, and steam rolled their way through the playoffs until they ran into the Jays. But we'll see i guess. Maybe I've just been huffing too much glue.

- world class facilities in Dunedin completed 5 years ago - world class facilities in Toronto completed 2 years ago - a contending team, been to the playoffs 4 out of 6 seasons, just went to the world series - one of the top spenders - most of last years team coming back, clubhouse is tight - already retained Bieber, signed Cease and Ponce Lots of reasons to come to the Jays, hopefully they show him the money and he signs. Dude has the 10th most fWAR of any position player in MLB the last 5 seasons.

I think Berrios is as good as gone and I don't think he'll be as hard to move as many seem to believe. I also think Scherzer will be back on a discounted deal. Maybe even Bassitt, but that seems much less likely. These guys f***ing love it in Toronto and desperately want to win a world series, especially with these other guys in the Jays clubhouse right now.

I can see that point of view for sure, but I can also see him 100% being willing to take a swing man role for 1 season before taking a full time rotation spot for the next two, especially when it's on a legitimate contender with arguably the best defense in MLB behind him. I really believe that the Jays are a VERY attractive destination right now for a multitude of reasons. But who knows, maybe the Jays do plan to trade Berrios after the free agent SP market has thinned out and open up a spot for him.

I'm interested to see how Rodriguez, Little and Fisher fare in 2026. All three started strong and faded to varying degrees later in the season, and then we're basically useless in the playoffs. Sure would be nice of they all found another gear going forward. I'm thinking barring injury or a trade Lauer and Ponce will be long men and spot starters to start the season. Ease Ponce in as a mutli inning reliever and occasional starter to keep guys more rested, and if he performs he's pretty much guaranteed a starter spot in 2027 and 2028.

Just pointing out the massive improvement in starting pitching depth from the start of the 2025 season. To think they ended up winning 94 games and going to game 7 of the world series starting out with that weak of SP depth, just imagine what they might do in 2026 if they can get Bo back and/or sign Tucker now that they have improved the stable of staring pitching that much in 9 months. And yes, it's going to spill over into the bullpen as well, where they started out the 2025 season with guys like Green, Swanson, Barnes and Dick Lovelady as bullpen options.

If the Jays are able to sign Tucker I could certainly see them absorbing some of Santanders contract and moving him. But I also could see them keeping him and moving him into a full time DH role starting in 2027 after George is gone.

Starters on the 40 man opening day 2025: Gausman Bassitt Berrios Sherzer Francis Lucas Bloss Macko Jays starters on the 40 man right now: Gausman Cease Bieber Yesavage Berrios Ponce Lauer Bloss Tiedemann Francis Macko Estrada Bastardo

I wonder if there is any juice left to squeeze out of Bowden Francis as a starter? Maybe they plan on using him in a bullpen role once again.

Eric Lauer was in the KBO in 2024. He wasn't nearly as successful in the KBO as Ponce, joined the Jays in 2025 and had a 1.4 fWAR season for us. Ponce has a 2.2 fWAR projection.

I believe we have a spot open and I'd drop Clase or Jiminez before Straw if money isn't a factor.

I find it funny coming in here reading all these posts dumping our depth when we don't even know what the Jays and Rogers are willing to spend. Remember last year when Varsho missed almost the whole first half and Straw put up 1.8 fWAR filling that hole in CF? Defense is a huge part of the Jays team building philosophy, and Straw is probably the Jays 2nd best defensive OFer. Unless his contract is going to keep them from signing a guy like Tucker or Bo just keep the depth.